2017 on TenEighty in Review

Blink and you’ll miss it: it’s 2018 already!

What a year 2017 has been for the UK YouTube community – we simply can’t believe it’s already over! And through it all TenEighty has been here to cover the ups and downs, the big and small successes, and elevate creators and discussion points within this creative online world.

So as we have done in previous years (you can read 2014, 2015 and 2016 here), let’s look back on the key moments for YouTubers, their viewers, and TenEighty in our official review of the 2017!

Sweeping up success

With each year that passes it seems more and more of our fave creators are having staggering success or embarking on incredible projects. It’s getting increasingly difficult to pinpoint the particular achievements we’re proudest of. Nonetheless, we’ve given it our best: here’s a snapshot of some of the projects and YouTubers that smashed it in 2017!

Jacob Collier, who’s been posting his compositions on YouTube since 2011, won two Grammy awards in the Jazz categories: Best Arrangement (Instrumental or Acapella) for his cover of the Flintstones theme song and Best Arrangement (Instrumentals and Vocals) for original track You and I.

Speaking of shows on Fullscreen, Hazel Hayes put a creepy twist on the world of YouTube pranksters with her original series PrankMe, and we gave you everything you needed to know before diving straight in.

YouTube itself ran into a few controversies in 2017, primarily around the content it does and doesn’t restrict and monetise. YouTube’s restricted mode, a feature offered since 2010, came under fire after several LGBTQ+ creators reported that content featuring Queer titles and themes was being unfairly censored. Shortly after YouTube released an apology via the YouTube Creators twitter, which many found lacking, YouTube released a more in-depth blog post detailing the system’s current faults and how they were best trying to remedy them.

News about restricted content didn’t end there. Videos under the guise of cartoons that featured violent and otherwise inappropriate content were reported, using popular children’s characters like Peppa Pig and Anna and Elsa from Disney’s Frozen to target children.

After a report from the BBC, YouTube released a statement recommending solutions such as using the YouTube Kids app and removing the search feature, reminding consumers that flagged videos are manually reviewed. When the issue resurfaced months later, YouTube stated that such content would be immediately age-restricted and demonetised but would require users to report said videos. YouTube also made a sizeable increase to their moderator staff, now at 10,000 members.

However, immense criticism came both during and after the event with several attendees concerned about poor organisation and overpriced tickets. While the HelloWorld lineup largely defended the event, others like Jana Damanhouri openly criticised the event’s poor communication, preferential treatment, and lack of diversity.

We explored the topic of meetups further in our feature The Creator/Viewer Divide. The feature delved into the unique power dynamic between creator and viewer and the atmosphere of YouTube meet-and-greets, with both creators and viewers weighing in on the growing celebrity status creators are earning (extrapolated on further in YouTube Goes Mainstream) and the impact that has on an interactive platform.

The holiday season began with a bit of a hiccup for Zoe Sugg in the form of her advent calendar. Controversially priced at £50, high street retailer Boots reduced the price down to £25 following widespread criticism from both fans and onlookers.

In November, Estée Lalonde was called out by a B&B for using their bedrooms for a sponsorship post without crediting them. While this sparked an interesting discussion among creators about relationships with small brands, The Reading Rooms ultimately apologised after several creators reached out in defence of Estée.

Wrapping up this year, TenEighty spoke to Carrie Hope Fletcher, Jack Howard, Tim Hautekiet, and Patty Walters in The Post Play Button Transition. The feature examined the intricacies of breaking ties with YouTube, moving on to other products, and the impact that has on the creator/viewer relationship.

Shining a light

As much as we like to keep you lot informed, we also dedicate a fair amount of time to keeping you entertained as well, and that means regularly curating the best content on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. Here’s some of our favorite highlights from 2017.

Our Weekly Round-Up has kept dedicated viewers up to date on some of the best content every week since TenEighty’s inception, and 2017 was no exception. This year saw an increasingly diverse selection with creators of varying orientation, race, and subscriber count, and we’ll be sure to continue capturing all of the voices represented on YouTube into 2018.

We took a closer look at the work of Guy Larsen, whose portfolio moves from dodie music videos to refreshing, self-aware short films, and picked his brain about future forays into the film festival world.

TenEighty made a nod to AmeliaAce as well, highlighting her exceptional content surrounding education on asexuality.

We showcased the talents of Eilidh Gow, the filmmaker behind the channel ThatArtyGirl. While also creating content for BBC The Social, Eilidh’s channel has become home to experimentation and self-expression through travel vlogs, shorts, and monthly scrapbooks.

DoodleTube, an art collective founded by Guy Larsen, Matt Ley, and Chloe Dungate, nagged a showcase as well. Though the group does not have a YouTube channel yet, their Twitter feed is a hub for flourishing internet artists of all mediums. “DoodleTube is open to everyone and I hope it becomes a place where artists feel at home,” says Chloe.

Despite all this fun, the big homecoming event for the UK YouTube community was, as always, was Summer in the City in August. Across the three day weekend, we sold our fourth physical magazine and covered 33 panels and events.

We also paid tribute to the forgotten heroes of conventions: the dads. The dads who drive their kids to the event, make sure they’re fed and watered, and comfort their offspring when they met their favs, despite having no idea who they are. Here’s to the sad dads of Summer in the City!

Let’s get silly

Illustrations by Chloe Rose Art

Two things that are great on their own are always better together right? Well, perhaps not with food (dairy milk and spag bol sandwich, anyone?), but definitely with fandoms. This year we cast our favourite creators as characters from the Harry Potter and Doctor Who universes, and we think the results were pretty fitting.

And of course, with another year come and gone, our TenEighty family has only gotten bigger! We now have over 50 regular contributors and, fortunately, this meant we’ve been able to up our game in the spotlight department.

Launching in June, our Spotlight section got its own tab with two sparkly sections: Channel Spotlight and Video Spotlight. TenEighty is committed to shining a light on up-and-coming talent and through this section we can do just that. Whether it’s channels who are smashing it but we feel deserve recognition and a larger reach, or videos that are worthy of more in depth look.

Finally, our crowning jewel has to be the TenEighty Yearbook 2017, a stunning photoshoot with as many YouTubers we could find backstage at Summer in the City. This is only the second time we’ve done this and we wanted to make sure we upped our game from 2016.

We completely owe this to photographer Dave Bird, who organised, transported equipment, took the snaps and edited them. We even managed to turn over the photoshoot within a week of the event. Thank you to Summer in the City for allowing us a space backstage and the 80+ creators who took part.

The photos are all quite nice to look at, so if you’re feeling particularly reminiscent after this article, we’d definitely recommend the gallery as an apt remedy.

The TenEighty Yearbook 2017

Here’s to 2018!

All that’s really left to say is thank you – our readers – for sticking with us throughout this year. We’re passionate about the world of YouTube, just like you, and will continue to champion all the talented creators within the UK community. So don’t worry, we’ll be here throughout 2018 and hopefully bigger and better than ever before. We’re not going anywhere, and neither should you.

Want more? Read some of the our the articles mentioned above, or our reviews of previous years:

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